Fattman thanks the voters

When Ryan Fattman announced his candidacy for the State House in early April, he said he promised himself he would express his gratitude to the voters in each of the 18th Worcester District's five towns regardless of the outcome.

By Joe O'Connell/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

By Joe O'Connell/Daily News staff

Posted Nov. 4, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 4, 2010 at 4:04 AM

By Joe O'Connell/Daily News staff

Posted Nov. 4, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 4, 2010 at 4:04 AM

BELLINGHAM

» Social News

When Ryan Fattman announced his candidacy for the State House in early April, he said he promised himself he would express his gratitude to the voters in each of the 18th Worcester District's five towns regardless of the outcome.

Yesterday afternoon, Fattman made good on his pledge, holding up a "Thank You" sign at Khoury Plaza in Bellingham Center after making stops in Sutton and Uxbridge earlier in the day. He intended to visit Blackstone and Millville later.

"That was a commitment I made to myself in the beginning," said Fattman, who added he got just two hours of sleep Tuesday night. "There were a certain number of things I wanted to hold myself accountable for. The most important was getting out to all the towns and thanking people."

On Tuesday, Fattman defeated veteran state Rep. Jennifer Callahan, D-Sutton, winning all five towns in the district. Fattman will officially begin his new job in the state House of Representatives in January.

The Sutton selectman said it was not until he heard he had won Bellingham that his victory became real.

Throughout the campaign, Fattman said he expected the race to come down to Bellingham, but he originally didn't have high expectations for a win after conducting a poll in May that had him down 20 percent to Callahan.

"Everyone in my campaign didn't want a poll, they didn't want to spend the money," Fattman said. "But I kept pushing for it because I wanted a tangible number to be able to measure what I needed to do."

So from May until Tuesday, Fattman did everything he needed to do to win, which included visiting 6,000 homes.

And even when he was getting calls at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday from people telling him he was going to win, he didn't want to believe it.

"It wasn't until the actual numbers came in that I was going to say 'We've won,' " Fattman said.

Fattman said he is grateful for the work of his campaign staff and volunteers, who are a big reason why he could stand in Bellingham Center yesterday with a smile on his face.

"I'm very, very proud of the campaign we ran," Fattman said. "We worked very hard. It was the people behind this campaign who made it happen."

Since he was declared the winner, Fattman said he has received more than 300 e-mails and more than 100 posts on his Facebook page from people congratulating him.

Callahan said she, too, has received hundreds of e-mails from people across the district, wishing her the best.

"It has been incredible," Callahan said. "And I just want to thank the people of my district for having placed their confidence in me. It means the world to me."

Page 2 of 2 - While she understands and respects the decision the district's voters made Tuesday, Callahan said it is not going to stop her from being a strong, independent voice for them in her last two months in office.

"I did my very, very best," Callahan said. "And I have always put myself out there for the people of this district."